Accurately predicting possible post-surgical effects on speech. Can surgeons quantify the risk of aphasia when removing a brain tumor? To find out, researchers at Klinikum rechts der Isar of the Technical University of Munich (TUM) are analyzing the brain as a network. In a current study with 60 patients, they already achieved an accuracy rate with three quarters of their predictions. Brain tumors are relatively rare. According to the German Society for Neurology, the annual incidence is approximately five cases…
An international study led by the medical Faculty of the University of Bonn has identified a gene that plays an important role in the development of the human embryo. If it is altered, malformations of various organ systems can result. The gene emerged very early in evolution. It also exists in zebrafish, for example, and performs a similar function there. The results have now been published in the Journal of Medical Genetics. The researchers tracked down the gene when they…
Lipids influence the formation of protein clumps. After Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s is the most common neurodegenerative disease in the world. More than six million people worldwide suffer from it. In this disease, alpha-synuclein proteins form thread-like structures called fibrils. When these fibrils clump together, they probably damage nerve cells. A research team has now shown for the first time how lipids bind to the fibril surface and influence the arrangement of the synuclein proteins within the fibrils. As it demonstrated, the…
… leading to ‘picophotonics’. Researchers at Purdue University have discovered new waves with picometer-scale spatial variations of electromagnetic fields which can propagate in semiconductors like silicon. The research team, led by Dr. Zubin Jacob, Elmore Associate Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering and Department of Physics and Astronomy (courtesy), published their findings in APS Physics Review Applied in a paper titled, “Picophotonics: Anomalous Atomistic Waves in Silicon.” “The word microscopic has its origins in the length scale of a micron which is a million…
How does manganese get to where it needs to go in plants? The protein BICAT3 is one of the most important manganese distributors in plants. If defective, this can have devastating effects on a plant’s growth; its leaves grow significantly smaller and it produces fewer seeds than usual. A team led by Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg (MLU) has recently uncovered a transport pathway for manganese in plants and the role that BICAT3 plays in this process. The results could lay…
When a surface is getting wet, also the composition of the liquid plays a role in the wetting process. Researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Dynamics and Self-Organization (MPI-DS) found that phase separation within the wetting liquid directly affects the dynamics of spreading. Their findings may be important in various applications, including tissue engineering, biology and semiconductor manufacturing. The study was recently published in the scientific journal PNAS. During phase separation, liquid mixtures of several components turn into an…
Using a simulation method based on random numbers scientists were able to describe the properties of warm dense hydrogen as accurately as never before. Finding out the properties of quantum systems that are made of many interacting particles is still a huge challenge. While the underlying mathematical equations are long known, they are too complex to be solved in practice. Breaking that barrier most probably would lead to a plethora of new findings and applications in physics, chemistry and the…
Quantum technology on its way into society: Joint project DiaQNOS to develop quantum sensors to improve brain tumor surgery. Removing a brain tumor presents surgeons with special challenges: They must remove the tumor without damaging healthy brain tissue. Among other things, it is important to keep an eye on the motor cortex responsible for movement. If, for example, a nerve pathway leading from this to the arm is severed, the patient will no longer be able to move that arm…
For many blood cancer patients, a stem cell transplant is the only chance of survival. However, up to 30-50% of transplant recipients can develop the often life-threatening complication called graft-versus-host disease (GVHD). Dr. Yiouli Ktena, scientist at the Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore (USA), has developed a new, epigenetic approach: She hopes to use it to effectively combat GVHD while preserving the immunological power of donor cells. For the realization of her promising project, she received the DKMS John Hansen…
Architects from HTWK Leipzig show how solar modules can be integrated aesthetically and efficiently into curtain-type concrete and aluminum facades. Using solar energy on the walls of buildings – that is one goal of the Leipzig Institute of Architecture (ai:L) at the Leipzig University of Applied Sciences (HTWK Leipzig). From November 15 to 17, 2022, the ai:L team will present its solar facades Solar.shell and Solar.con, developed in research projects, at the Smart City Expo World Congress in Barcelona. Prof….
Innovative electronics require state-of-the-art technologies and manufacturing processes. For many medium-sized companies, this is an investment that is almost impossible to bear. But thanks to the Fraunhofer Institute for Photonic Microsystems IPMS and its two clean rooms, the latest research results and technologies on 200 and 300 mm wafers are also accessible to smaller companies. The offer ranges from consulting to process development and pilot series production. The level of automation and efficiency in industry has increased significantly with Industry…
Synthetic hibernation could provide protection from cosmic radiation. It is still a glimpse into the future: Astronauts could be put into artificial hibernation and in this state be better protected from cosmic radiation. At present, there are already promising approaches to follow up such considerations. An international research team led by the Biophysics Department of the GSI Helmholtzzentrum in Darmstadt now has found decisive indications of the possible benefits of artificial hibernation for radiation resistance. The research partners from Germany,…
… at the end of the competence center’s first funding phase. Robots should perform decontamination tasks as independently as possible in environments that are hostile to humans, e.g. in the remediation of contaminated sites or in the dismantling of nuclear facilities and the decontamination of power plant components – with the aim of allowing humans to stay out of the danger zone. This vision was at the beginning of ROBDEKON. Now, the first, four-year funding phase of the competence center…
General neutron star structure revealed. Through extensive model calculations, physicists at Goethe University Frankfurt have reached general conclusions about the internal structure of neutron stars, where matter reaches enormous densities: depending on their mass, the stars can have a core that is either very stiff or very soft. The findings were published simultaneously in two articles today (The Astrophysical Journal Letters, DOI 10.3847/2041-8213/ac9b2a, DOI 10.3847/2041-8213/ac8674). So far, little is known about the interior of neutron stars, those extremely compact objects…
Although the coronavirus known as SARS-CoV-2 does not infect nerve cells, it can cause damage to the nervous system. Researchers from the University of Basel and University Hospital Basel have studied the mechanisms responsible for this effect, known as “neuro-Covid”, and identified starting points for its prevention. It’s not uncommon for people to lose their sense of taste and smell due to a Covid-19 infection. In others, the disease has had an even stronger impact on the nervous system, with…
As nations work to eliminate carbon emissions, batteries will play a huge role. Electric vehicles powered by batteries seem likely to dominate the future of commercial and consumer transportation. Likewise, large stationary batteries will augment renewables like wind and solar by storing energy when production exceeds demand on the electrical grid, then sending that energy back to the grid when needed. But even today’s most advanced lithium-ion batteries don’t yet have the combination of economics, durability and energy density necessary…
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